Groundwater Studies

Transboundary aquifers are an essential source of water for United States – Mexico border communities. Declining water levels, deteriorating water quality, and increasing use of groundwater resources on both sides of the border raise concerns about the long-term availability of this supply. The U.S. – Mexico Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Act (Public Law 109-448) of 2006 was enacted to conduct...

Water resources in the Rio San Jose Basin are limited, and development for public supply, mining, agriculture, and commercial activities have the potential to affect the water availability and quality at a basin-wide scale. This study is designed to provide water-resource managers with better information to plan for potential effects of increased or shifting demands and changes of climatic...

In 1996, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New Mexico Office of the State Engineer (OSE), began a drilling program to install specialized monitoring wells in the Middle Rio Grande Basin and the Espanola Basin.

The upper Rio Hondo Basin occupies a drainage area of 585 square miles in south-central New Mexico and comprises three general hydrogeologic terranes: the higher elevation “Mountain Block,” the “Central Basin” piedmont area, and the lower elevation “Hondo Slope.”

Recent expansion of suburban development and population growth in the Sandia Mountains of eastern Bernalillo County, NM (East Mountain Area, EMA), has led to increased residential and commercial construction and increased demands on available water resources. Information about the spatial and temporal variability of water resources is needed for continued population and economic growth. USGS...

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA) has been investigating the effects of groundwater withdrawal on groundwater levels throughout the Albuquerque metropolitan area in the Middle Rio Grande Valley of central New Mexico (fig. 1). Historically, the water supply requirements of the Albuquerque metropolitan area were met...

In many groundwater basins in the arid to semiarid western United States, permanent regional-scale land-surface elevation change has resulted from substantial drawdown of groundwater levels. By the end of 2008, groundwater drawdown from municipal pumping in the Albuquerque area had reached as much as 120 feet below predevelopment (~1950s) water levels. In 2014 the USGS, in cooperation with the...

North Fork Eagle Creek is located in the Sacramento Mountains of south-central New Mexico. Urban and resort development have placed increasing demands on surface- and ground-water resources of the area. The Village of Ruidoso obtains 60 to 70 percent of its water supply from the Eagle Creek basin, including 4 wells (the North Fork wells) on U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service land. The...

The US Geological Survey and the New Mexico Environment Department entered into a Joint Powers Agreement as of April 30, 2001 to execute an investigation of baseline and pre-mining ground-water quality in the Red River Basin, New Mexico. The main objective is to infer the pre-mining ground-water quality at the Questa Molycorp mine site. This study was formulated because New Mexico law states that...

The City of Albuquerque will begin accepting delivery of imported San Juan-Chama water to supplement present municipal water supplies as part of the City's Drinking Water Project (DWP). The City's San Juan-Chama water will be diverted from the Rio Grande near Alameda Bridge in Albuquerque, transported to a treatment facility, and eventually distributed to customers. Water in the Rio Grande is...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has collected, documented, and published an extensive amount of hydrogeologic data collected from and near the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) site in southeastern New Mexico. The objective of the proposed work is to document and publish the data that was used to estimate values of transmissivity and storage coefficients for water-bearing zones open to wells H...

The City of Grants is located in Cibola County within western central New Mexico and is included within the Bluewater Underground Water Basin. Major aquifers within the Grants area include the Alluvium and basalt flows of Quaternary age and the San Andres Limestone and the Glorietta Sandstone of Permian age. Contamination of shallow ground water with volatile organic carbon compounds including...